The Presidents Secretary
by olitzalltheway
Summary: How Lauren, secretary to President Grant, sees it. . #Olitz
1. chapter 1

Hello, my name is Lauren. I have been a presidential secretary for 12 years. I have worked for 2 presidents. Having worked for Mr Bush for four years, i thought i was well prepared when president Grant took office. Well, let me tell you how wrong that was. It all started on day 2 of president Grant's term.

President Fitzgerald Grant, better known as Fitz to close friends, had a talk with me for a full hour of what to expect while working for him. At one point we discussed full accessibility to walk into the office or get put through on the phone without fail.

I fully expected the kids Jerry and Karen to be on that list. And they where. I also expected first lady Mellie Grant to be on the list, perhaps also Cyrus Been, Chief of Staff. But to my surprise, the president told me that the only other person to be added to the full access list was Olivia Pope, his communications director. I knew they had worked closely together on the election campeign, she was a big part to his successful election, but it was unusual to say the least. 3 hours into my second work day, i got to see first hand why Olivia was on the full access list.

Olivia Pope was even more beautiful up close and personal than her pictures in the news paper gave her credit. She was often photographed in close proximity to the president elect. But like i said, seeing her standing before me and hearing her introduce herself to me, blew me away. She had a presence about her, an aura if you will, that reels you in.

I have seen it time and time again over the years. When she enters a room, even the oval office, all eyes are on her. Beauty, smart, passion.

Anyway, she shook my hand, a hand that feels soft with a nice grip , beautiful manicured nails. I introduced myself as well ; she was sincere in her kindness to me. I told her that the president was unoccupied , that she could walk right in.

Walk in she did.

She closed the door behind her. After a few minutes president Grant got on my speakerphone, asking if they could please get 2 cups of coffee. So my assistant secretary made the coffee tray, while i tried to continue a briefing i was spell checking.

President Grant must had mixed up the buttons on his phone, because next thing i know, i could hear what him and Olivia where saying.

"God Liv, you look amazing, how can you look so good after the night we had? I didn't exactly let you sleep very much", the presidents voice interrupted my concentration. I frowned to myself and hurriedly took the phone off speaker while i lifted the horn.

I heard Olivia respond before i had a chance to interupt :

"You never let me sleep much, good thing i can sleep in my own bed tonight ,so your hands can't distract me".

President Grant sounded sexy in his response :" Just my hands, baby?"

"President Grant ! ", i interrupted quickly and louder than needed, i felt myself blush.

"You might want to disable the speakerphone , sir, for this conversation."

It was awfully quiet for a few seconds before the president got back to me :"Will do, thank you, Lauren, I apologize".

"No apologies needed, sir"., i told him.

My mind was spinning...that for sure sounded like the president was cheating on his wife!

I had met his wife, Mellie Grant, briefly, the day before. She was pretty, not beautiful like Olivia, but pretty none the less. But she also seemed a bit aloof, cold. And speaking of the devil, guess who walked up the the oval next...Ms Grant !

I hurriedly called the presidents desk: " Mrs Grant is here to see you, Mr President. ", i warned him.

Mrs Grant walked in, without greeting me i might add. A few minutes later she walked back out, she seemed distracted, but not upset, so i figured she hadn't walked in on her husband too close to another woman.

It would take me another week or so when i heard the president and his wife argue , the door was open and Mellie had waltzed in again , like she owned the place. So when they raised their voices, i easily heard the president tell her, :" Mellie, what do you want?Don't walk in here like you love your husband, we both know better than that". Mellie closed the door, so i don't know what else was said at that time.

What i do know , is that over the years, Olivia was the key to keeping my boss happy. My boss is a generous, good natured man. He is handsome, kind, smart.

But at times it seems like he doesn't want this job. Like he rather be a regular person. The only person he seems to let his guard down for is Olivia. I have come to learn over the years that he loves her, and only her. I mean, my assistant secretary , the secret service , a few other close staff members all knew it too, way before the affair was made public.

It started out as a closely guarded secret between me and secret service agents Tom and Hall.

Nobody else knew.

But that was before they became reckless. Before Mellie found out.


	2. Oval interrupted

I don't remember the exact date, but it must have been around the second month of Mr Grants presidency , when i walked in on him and Olivia Pope making out. I had been on a bathroom brake and had some papers to bring to his desk to get signed. He had been alone in the office before, so i barely knocked, just one soft knock, when i walked in. And i saw the president and Olivia kissing passionately. They stood near the window , of to the right side of his desk.

They where so wrapped up in each other that they didn't even hear me walk in the room.

And man, it sure looks like the president is a great kisser, the way Olivia seemed to be melted to his body, wrapped in his arms.

I cleared my throat politly and spoke up : "Sorry to interrupt, Mr President . "

They flew apart quickly. I almost felt embarrassed, like i was at fault for disturbing them. Olivia tried to flee the oval, but the president grabbed her hand : " Please wait, Liv ." Olivia ran out the office anyway. The president looked at me and held my gaze for a brief moment, before saying :

"Lauren, i would like to tell that i am sorry for putting you in this position. I would like to explain myself to you ."

I colored : " Not needed , mr president, my lips are sealed."

" I appreciate that, but i still would like to explain...", he continued. " I think you have gathered already that my marriage is dead. It was broken long before i met Olivia. Mellie doesn't want a divorce, she loves the White House. Its been her goal all along. I am at fault for cheating on her. But Olivia is no fling. I am in love with her. Her and the kids mean the world to me. More than being president. But Olivia doesn't want me to resign. We have tried to stop a few times, being together, but i just can't stay away from her. ...Again, i am very sorry for putting you in between this, but i can not promise that it won't happen again.Olivia will always be the one i love..."

He looked embarrassed and in love at the same time. Emotions splayed all over his handsome face.

I looked him in the eye and told him how i felt: " Mr President, cheating is always wrong ."

I saw him hang his head before he heard me out : " But i also know that Ms Pope makes time to say hello to me every day, she asks how i am doing, she remembers stories i tell her and has been nothing but kind to me. I admire her and like her...Mrs Grant has said hello to me once, Inauguration day. She barely acknowledges me. I am not complaining sir, i am merely trying to point out that i could see how it can be very easy to fall in love with a kind person like Ms Pope...My lips are sealed."

The president looked stunned. He was speechless. I went back to business, handed him the papers : " These await your signatures, mr president ." I left the oval office and went back to my desk.

The next day and onward, Ms Grant always greeted me politely , in what i call her political smile.

Olivia and myself got along well like before. We never discussed it. Words seemed unnecessary.

I saw her struggle daily with mixed emotions on her face, whenever i saw her and the president work together. I was saddened to hear she resigned not too long after. It was secret service agent Tom who told me why. It was al Hall's fault , that we now had to deal with a heartbroken, short tempered president...


	3. Rose garden

It was the afternoon after Olivia had resigned. Gone was our pleasant , happy, hardworking boss. We got an upset, short fused, ill tempered grouch instead. Tom asked me what was up with the president. I told him that Ms Pope had quit. With Tom being the president's first agent, there was no way he wouldn't have figured out what she meant to the president. I watched him closely and he sighted deeply :"Damn".

I nodded and he looked me straight in the eye and observed :" You know." I nodded again and softly said :" I know. But I don't know why she quit. They seemed happy the last few days. He even took her to the constitution." "It's Hall's fault.", Tom started, " He told the first lady that her husband sure spend a lot of time with Ms Pope. And he gave her that flagpin that he always wears, that he had found it on the floor at the constitution. I bet the first lady figured it out." "Well, if Ms Pope isn't coming back we are in for a rough time", i said honestly. Tom nodded :" Yes, i know, he is in love with that woman, without her...", He didn't finish since Cyrus Beene walked by to get to the oval office. It was calm for a few minutes before we heard the president yell at Cyrus :" I don't care what it takes, get her back Cy, we need her back. I need her here."

Cyrus was unsuccessful, Olivia Pope didn't come back. It was to be half a year later before Olivia graced us with our presence again, during the time of the Amanda Tanner /Jeanine Lock debacle. It was around this time that the president and Olivia started becoming less careful. They didn't hide from the first lady and several secret agents, besides Tom and Hall, knew about the affair. My assistant , Samantha, had also walked in on them once, in the rose garden.

It was her lunch brake and she had left about 10 minutes earlier, when she came up to me and she started : " Omg, Lauren, you never believe what I saw ! The president and Olivia in the rose garden! ".

I looked up quickly:" Please tell me they had their clothes on.. ." Samantha nearly spit her coffee out :" Well, yes, but they where making out!! Seriously!...Wait, what do you mean where their clothes on...have you seen them without??!!"

"Im not going to answer that", i responded. "Samantha, keep this to yourself. Nobody needs to know about them".


	4. Life is not a fairytale

"Lauren, has the President's schedule changed? Teddy said the word balloon today, and if I don't tell him every little thing Teddy does there will be hell to pay ", rattled Mrs Grant to me one day, while the President was on a trip to New Hampshire. I offered to try call him myself in his hotel room. Mrs Grant watched me while I called. Ofcourse I got a dail tone too. Mrs Grant stopped chattering and asked me to call Olivia Pope. I played dumb and she immediatly interrupted me asking again if I would please call Miss Pope. And just like his wife , I suddenly knew she would not answer the phone either. Both the President and Olivia _always_ answer my calls immediatly. I had to tell Mrs Grant that Olivia was not answering her phone either. Mrs Grant quickly walked away and left me to myself. I sighted and decided to warn Tom. I send him a text : " Neither Prince / Snow White answer my calls. Ice Queen had me call them.". He texted me back :" They are in a meeting right now". I knew enough. She was back in his arms and she would make our jobs harder, but also more enjoyable. The president was always predictably in a good mood after spending time with her.

Another day, another time. I walked into Mr Cyrus Beene's office...only to interrupt my boss and his girlfriend...again...and his jacket and blouse where off . Her panties where down her ankles. Talk about awkward! Never did I turn around so quickly before , to get out of that office...and with it being Cyrus's office, I had made many speedy exits out that room before. My boss and his girlfriend decided to escape to Camp David after that, much to my and Tom's relieve.

What do i think of my boss and his girlfriend? Honestly, my boss has amazing looks, he is eye candy for sure. But more importantly he is a good guy. His wife is nothing but trouble and we all know he wants to divorce her so badly. They are married on paper only. He is a smart man, who only loses his mind around his girlfriend. When he is in her arms , he doesn't see or hear anything else around them. I think that's why I interrupted them several times. My boss ' girfriend is amazing. I am in awe of her. She is a force to be reckoned with and when she is around everybody takes orders from her, including my boss. Including me. But she also loves her friends and my boss recklessly. She gives her all to those she loves. She remembers every birthday, knows every important milestone . She is also a lost soul. She works so hard to find herself by helping others. She is a contradiction. She doesn't let many people close, she is close to everyone. I think she is only herself when she is with my boss. Yet she can never show herself because he is married.


End file.
